"Beyoncé doesn't just sit at the table. She builds a better one," Sheryl Sandberg writes of the pop star in the Time 100 issue. "Her secret: hard work, honesty and authenticity. And her answer to the question, What would you do if you weren't afraid? appears to be 'Watch me. I'm about to do it.' Then she adds, 'You can, too.' "

This year's list includes a record 41 women. But "if there is a common theme in many of the tributes," says Time editor Nancy Gibbs, "it's the eagerness to see what some engineer, actor, leader or athlete will do next. As much as this exercise chronicles the achievements of the past year, we also focus on figures whose influence is likely to grow, so we can look around the corner to see what is coming."